MARINE BIOLOGY (MAR111) COURSE SYLLABUS – SPRING 2013 SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE AMMERMAN CAMPUS Lecture: Monday and Wednesday 9:30 – 10:45AM in M15 Laboratory: Wednesday 12:30 – 2:20PM in M10 Instructor: Prof. Marianne E. McNamara Office: Smithtown Science Bldg; Room T221 Email: mcnamam@sunysuffolk.edu Phone: (631) 451-4688 Website: www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mcnamam Office Hours: Monday 2:00 – 3:00PM (via email or appointment only) and 3:00 – 4:00PM; Tuesday 12:45 – 1:45PM; Wednesday 8:45 – 9:15AM; 3:00 – 4:00PM; Thursday 1:15 – 1:45PM Course Description: By means of lectures, laboratory exercises, and field trips, the student will explore the diversity of life in the marine environment. This course is designed for non-science students. Course Goals: To provide an engaging and stimulating learning environment for students to: apply the scientific method in laboratory and field exercises; understand the properties of water and how its physical and chemical characteristics affect and influence marine organisms; define diversity and to interpret the major characteristics of marine organisms in the context of their evolutionary relationships; identify marine producers and consumers and to classify these organisms into their major invertebrate and chordate phyla; to explain the strategies that enable adaption of organisms to their marine environment; to interpret the distribution of life in the oceans and other marine environments in the context of their adaptations; provide examples of environmental problems facing marine communities; and to give students the basis to cultivate a sense of stewardship for marine life and ecosystems. Required Text and Materials: Marine Biology. 9th Edition. Peter Castro and Michael E. Huber. McGraw Hill Higher Education. 2009. 8th edition is also acceptable. Laboratory and Field Investigations in Marine Life. 9th Edition. James Sumich and Gordon Dudley. WCB/McGraw Hill. 2009 Gloves are required for the laboratory. Attendance Policy: Attendance at lecture sessions is expected, and you are responsible for any materials/lectures missed. Attendance will be taken at every meeting as per college protocol. The College defines excessive absence or lateness as more than the equivalent of one week of class meetings during the semester. Attendance at laboratory meetings is required. Students who miss more than one (1) lab session may be dropped from the course. If you know in advance that you will miss a laboratory meeting or have missed one due to illness, emergency, etc., it is your responsibility to make-up this session. However, this is dependent on permission of the other instructor and the availability of other laboratory meetings, and you will need written documentation of your make-up by the instructor. Please see me if you need to make such arrangements. The last official date to withdraw from the course is March 19, 2013. Students wishing to withdraw from class after this date must contact me and complete a withdraw slip from the registrar’s office, which I must sign. All students who go AWOL without completing a withdraw form will automatically receive a grade of “F”. A student may be removed from the class roster by an instructor at any time when, in the judgment of the instructor, absences have been excessive or when a student is disruptive or disrespectful. Leaving laboratory class early (or arriving late) is not permitted. Notes: Lectures will be presented using Power Point. All Power Point lectures will be posted on my website. PLEASE PRINT THESE NOTES PRIOR TO OUR CLASS MEETING to take notes on during lecture. Laboratory Schedule: Laboratory schedule generally follows the timeline of the course outline. This course includes field trips as well as laboratory exercises. Due to the length of time these field trips take, some trips will be held on a weekend and/or alternate date. Your attendance on these field trips is expected (as is outlined in the course catalogue). I understand that many students have other commitments during these times, but it is necessary for you to make arrangements in advance to attend. If you cannot attend a trip, you will receive a ‘zero’ for that lab. These field trips are the best part of the course and enjoyed well by students. The details of these field trips will be distributed early in the semester. Please see schedule below. Personal transportation (i.e., car) to these field trips is also necessary. As per college protocol, I am UNABLE to transport any students in my personal vehicle. You may wish to make arrangements with other students to carpool together in advance of the trip. Details for all field trips will be given in class. Course Lecture Outline: Date Topic Required Text Readings 01/23 Introduction/Science of Marine Biology Chapter 1 01/28 Earth, Oceans and Seafloor Chapter 2 01/30 Earth, Oceans and Seafloor 02/04 Properties of Seawater Chapter 3 02/06 Fundamentals of Biology Chapter 4 (4a in notes) 02/11 Diversity of Life/Classification Chapter 4 (4b in notes) 02/13 The Microbial World: Viruses, Prokaryotes, Fungi Chapter 5 02/18 NO CLASS – PRESIDENT’S DAY 02/20 Lecture Exam #1 02/25 The Microbial World: Protists Chapter 5 02/27 Multi-cellular Primary Producers Chapter 6 03/04 Plankton Chapter 15 03/06 Marine Invertebrates Chapter 7 (7a in notes) 03/06 TAXONOMY PROJECT DUE! 03/11 Marine Invertebrates (continued) Chapter 7 (7b in notes) 03/13 Marine Invertebrates (continued) 03/18 Marine Invertebrates (continued) Chapter 7 (7c in notes) 03/20 Lecture Exam #2 03/25 NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK 03/27 NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK 04/01 Marine Invertebrates (continued) Chapter 7 04/03 Marine Vertebrates – Fishes Chapter 8 (8a in notes) 04/08 Marine Vertebrates – Fishes (continued) Chapter 8 (8b in notes) 04/15 Marine Vertebrates – Fishes (continued) 04/17 WEST MEADOW BEACH FIELD TRIP – MEET AT 1:00PM 04/19 Deep Sea Biology Chapter 16 04/22 Marine Vertebrates – Reptiles Chapter 9 04/24 Marine Vertebrates – Reptiles 04/29 Lecture Exam #3 05/01 0Marine Vertebrates – Birds Chapter 9 05/06 Marine Vertebrates - Mammals Chapter 9 05/08 Marine Vertebrates - Mammals 05/13 Marine Vertebrates - Mammals 05/15 Final Exam – GOOD LUCK! Course Laboratory Outline: Date Laboratory_________________________________________ 01/23 Introduction 01/30 Introduction to microscopy 02/06 Taxonomy Boot Camp 02/13 Taxonomic Classification and Identification 02/20 NO LAB 02/27 Marine Plants and Algae 03/06 Plankton 03/13 Lower Marine Invertebrates – Sponges, Ctenophores, Cnidarians, and Worms 03/20 Molluscs (clam, squid) 03/27 NO LAB – SPRING BREAK 04/03 Arthropods and Echinoderms *04/06 (SAT) ATLANTIS MARINE WORLD FIELD TRIP 10:00AM 04/10 NO LAB (MAKE-UP FOR AQUARIUM) 04/17 WEST MEADOW BEACH FIELD TRIP 9:30AM 04/24 Cartilaginous and Bony Fish 05/01 Lab Exam 05/08 Movie and discussion Examinations and Grading: A. Lecture Grade (45%): a. Three exams will be given. These exams may consist of multiple choice, fill-in, matching, short answer, and essay questions. Anything covered in lecture is ‘fair game’ for the exam, as well as information obtained from your required readings and laboratory exercises. Together, these three exams will constitute 45% of your course grade, with the two best exams counting towards 20% each of your total grade, and your worst exam counting 5%. b. Extra credit/Alternate grading: Students have the option of keeping a scientific journal which would count as 5% of your lecture exam grade. Under this option, the optional assignment would replace your lowest exam grade. Details on the assignment will be handed out in class. As an added incentive, journal assignments receiving an “A” will result in 2 additional points being added to your final grade; a journal receiving a “B” will result in 1 additional point added to your final grade. No additional points will be given for assignments receiving any grade less than a “B”. c. There will be NO make-up exams in this course. If you miss an exam for any reason, you will receive a “0” for that exam. In this case, you are strongly advised to do the optional assignment to replace this zero with an actual grade. Only under extremely unusual circumstances will a remake exam be given. B. Laboratory Grade: Your laboratory grade will constitute 30% of your course grade and is calculated according to the following matrix: Laboratory work (including field trip attendance AND PARTICIPATION): 10% of grade Lab check-out questions, quizzes and laboratory notebook: 10% of grade Lab Exam (Final): 10% of grade C. Final Examination: A comprehensive final exam will be given on the last day of the course. This exam will constitute 20% of your course grade. D. Taxonomy Project: All students will be given two species which they must classify and describe (details will be given in class). This project will account for 5% of your course grade. E. Academic dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated and will result in a ZERO grade for that assignment. Additionally, any student caught cheating, plagiarizing, falsifying assignments or in violation of the student code of conduct will lose any and all points previously earned on extra credit assignments, and will lose the right to participate in any future extra credit opportunities. F. Final grade scale: In accordance with college policy, the following letter grades will be assigned based upon your final score: A = 90-100; B+ = 85-89; B = 80-84; C+ = 75-79; C = 70-74; D+ = 65-69; D = 6064; F = 59 or below General Information and Class Policies: Academic integrity: Cheating (including but not limited to glancing at other student’s work, talking during exams, using notes during examination, etc), plagiarism, falsification of records/data, and other violations of the student code constitute violation of this provision and will not be tolerated. Academic misconduct will be reported to the appropriate office for resolution and students in violation of the academic integrity code may be removed from the class or the course at the discretion of the instructor. I reserve the right to relocate students during exams in support of this policy. Late work: All assignments are due on the date assigned. Exceptions will only be made if you have been given permission beforehand or under extremely unusual circumstances. Classroom Conduct: Please respect the instructor and students by arriving on time, and silencing your cell phones, pagers, etc. Text messaging is NOT permitted in class and is considered disruptive. I reserve the right to remove any student for texting, and/or other disruptive behavior at any time. Study Hints: Take notes during lecture meetings. If something is unclear, ask questions! You are probably not the only one wondering. Study Hints: Be sure to keep up with the required readings. Make note of anything that is unclear and ask for clarification as necessary. When reading the text, refer to all figures and tables and make sure you understand the diagrams, photos, etc. Good figures condense a large amount of information, so expect to spend a lot of time studying figures. The course covers a very extensive amount of material with a good degree of difficulty and technical ‘jargon’. Be prepared to spend sufficient time reading the text, reviewing your notes, and resolving your laboratory exercises, reports, etc. Seek the help of fellow students and friends, and of course, see me if you have any questions or concerns. Please be advised that students are not permitted to leave class during an exam, unless they have completed the exam and handed it in to the instructor. Please make any necessary arrangements (e.g., bathroom breaks) prior to the exam. Laptops are permitted for note-taking purposes in class only with the prior permission of the instructor. If granted permission, you must sit in the back of the classroom to minimize distraction and understand that such use may be regulated according to college and course policies. For students with disabilities and/or “Special Services” notices please see me immediately at the start of the semester. I will do everything I can, within reason and school policy, to accommodate your needs. Have fun! Marine biology is an incredibly exciting and fun topic (and Shark Week comes but only once a year...) Make the most of your time spent in lecture and lab by paying attention, asking questions, and enjoying the subject matter! AMMERMAN CAMPUS CENTERS FOR STUDENT INDEPENDENT LEARNING: Biology Learning Center: Kreiling Hall, Room M-23. Academic Computing and Internet Center: Huntington Library, lower floor. Electronic and Print Resource Center: Huntington Library, lobby floor. Writing Center: Islip Arts Building, Room 116.